Enriching the Lives of the Marginalised Communities of India through Quality Education, Skill development,
Livelihood generation, Healthcare, Environment safety, Disaster response and Agriculture Initiatives
Adult Literacy
Striving towards achieving total literacy in the age group 15-45 is one of the objectives of the Organisation, which views this objective as indispensable in the rural transformation process. The Organisation began its Adult Literacy Programme on September 8th 2013, on World Literacy day, in ten villages on an experimental basis.
Currently the programme is operational in 167 villages in various phases. Of these, 146 villages have already achieved 100% literacy, which roughly translates to around 47,500 neo literates out of 52,250 learners who had enrolled.
Programme Strategy
The strategy is to collaborate with various partners for leveraging each others’ strengths. Partnerships have been forged with the local governments and the community to achieve 100% functional literacy in all adopted villages and provide access and opportunities for continuing education
Partners in Action
- The Government supports the programme by providing primers, notebooks and pencils for learners. Government officials – the Deputy Director of Adult Education department, project officers, supervisors, Mandal Literacy Organizers (MLOs) – support the programme in various ways. They are involved right from the designing stage to the actual implementation of the programme.
- Lord Buddha Educational is responsible for the overall design, coordination and implementation of the programme. It takes the responsibility of appointing project staff, conducting a survey of illiterates (with the help of the community and an identified instructor), enrolling the learners and providing incentives for motivators, instructors and learners. Material like Aksharamala charts are also supplied to the learning centres.
- The Community is involved at various stages of the programme and besides taking ownership looks after its day-to-day support and monitoring.
Delivery Process
Based on the village population size, 20 – 25 literacy centers are set up in each of the village. Depending on the number of learners, 20 – 25 local instructors per centre are identified in the ratio of 1:15 i.e. 1 instructor for 15 learners. To support the instructors, a couple of motivators one per 10 instructors are also engaged.
Duration
The programme which lasts for 8 months is divided into three phases.
In the first phase, which is of a month’s duration, all promotional and preparatory activities are undertaken: viz identifying and grouping the villages in clusters, holding discussions with all the stakeholders, identifying the motivators and instructors, carrying out a survey on the number of illiterates etc. A one day orientation-cum-training program for the instructors is also conducted. During this phase, learning centre locations are identified, timings are finalized and all the learning material required like primers, slates, black boards, etc are procured. Motivational meetings with all the stakeholders – Adult Education Department officials, motivators, community members and Organisation staff are conducted every week.
In the second phase instructors conduct classes for five months (one and hours daily — total 180 hours) at locations and timings convenient for the learners. The use of ICT is made an integral part of the teaching. Computers are installed at a central location in the village, which the learners from each of the literacy centre can use on a specific day. The content used in teaching has been specifically developed for the literacy programme. Online formats have been developed to monitor the programme learner-wise, centre-wise, and village-wise. Besides the literacy classes, various motivational activities are carried out to sustain the interest of the learners and the instructors alike. Various socio-cultural activities like Rangoli competitions, Burrakathas and the like are also conducted.
After 180 hours of teaching sessions an examination (of 100 marks) is conducted in three areas of reading, writing and arithmetic. In every village examination centres are identified and representatives from the Organisation and community members act as invigilators. The government also deputes one teacher for every centre for invigilation and evaluation.
In the third and final phase the programme is extended for two months for those who either fail to appear for the exam or fail to clear it with 70% marks. At the end of two months, another exam is conducted with a different question paper. Once all the learners have cleared the test, the village is declared to have achieved near 100% literacy.
At the end of the programme a function is organized to recognize the work put in by the participants. It marks the success of the programme and the achievement of the learners in becoming neo-literates.
Continuing Education
After a village achieves 100% literacy, a Life Skills and Livelihood Skills Training Center is set up to reinforce the learning of neo-literates and to provide them with access to facilities for ‘lifelong learning opportunities’. Livelihood skill training programmes like tailoring and embroidery are held too so that the neo literates can improve their income levels.
The aim is to use literacy as a stepping stone for continuing education and learning livelihood skills. The goal is to ensure that it results in higher income generation and a better quality of life. The programme is thus positioned as ‘better livelihood and better quality of life through literacy.’